Hi all!
Hope to answer some questions (and pose some of my own) for the WDW vets making their first excursions to the west! Here are a bunch of random thoughts that hopefully help others out:
I'd heard tale of the horrors that were the Harbor Blvd security lines...I must have been lucky, because the longest I waited was 10-15 minutes on Sunday around 11AM. I arrived 15 minutes prior to park opening on Monday and Tuesday and had a line of maybe 2-3 in front of me. I took breaks and came back around 4PM to the same lengths. The lines to scan tickets, however, were ridiculous! Most of the time seemed to be spent on taking pictures of people using their tickets for the first time.
Much talk has been had about the comparisons between rides on each coast, and (imo, of course) most of the consensus is true - BTMRR, IASW, SM, and Buzz are all better than their WDW counterparts.
Unpopular opinion, I know...but I prefer Pirates in WDW!
Hear me out! While there are a lot of extended scenes in the DL version, I think it flows better at WDW - there's no real "action" happening in any of the additions, just static scenes that don't propel the plot at all. I still loved it, don't hate me!
HM, Pooh and PP are all better in WDW as well - PP is really quick! Can't give an opinion on Splash, as it's been closed every time I've been to WDW (I had horrible luck with it until this trip! Finally rode it!)
Did the Blue Bayou Fantasmic dining package, and it was well worth it! The restaurant itself was a lot smaller than I expected, but that gumbo and sorcerer mickey dessert...
For the show, I arrived 30 minutes prior to the 9:00 show and got a dead center view with one couple in front of me against the railing. The section didn't really start to fill up until 15 minutes before, and even then there was still plenty of room to maneuver. I walked by about half an hour before the second show as well, and the dining section (all three were combined) was pretty barren.
For those that have asked, they have a cast member assigned to each section to make sure no one jumps into more appealing spots. Someone tried to switch as I was waiting to be walked over, and the cast member quickly escorted them back to their assigned section.
For those thinking about the River Belle Terrace premium package, I don't think the view is as bad as it looks in pictures - I got about as close to it as I could to check for future reference, and I would've been just fine with the view from there if it meant I got a seat and a meal with it (and I'm pretty picky about stuff like that).
Cars Land alone is almost worth a trip in and of itself - RSR is now one of my top 5 favorite rides in any park. Ride it at night, if you can.
Utilize single rider lines as much as possible - the wait for Indy was posted as 60 minutes at one point, and I waited maybe 10 (most of that just the long trek through the queue). With that being said, if there are a lot of APers around, they will vastly inflate the single rider lines and it'll basically be as long as the regular line.
If APs aren't blocked when you're there, try to go right at rope drop and enjoy the morning in the park - everything was pretty manageable until about noon, then all bets were off. I basically switched into WDW-planning mode, and that seemed to work pretty well. But there were still some chunks of time where I had to find random things to do, as the wait times had all skyrocketed.
The biggest tip I can give is GET MAXPASS!!! It was a lifesaver, especially with APs unexpectedly unblocked (thanks for that, Disney...).
Hope to answer some questions (and pose some of my own) for the WDW vets making their first excursions to the west! Here are a bunch of random thoughts that hopefully help others out:
I'd heard tale of the horrors that were the Harbor Blvd security lines...I must have been lucky, because the longest I waited was 10-15 minutes on Sunday around 11AM. I arrived 15 minutes prior to park opening on Monday and Tuesday and had a line of maybe 2-3 in front of me. I took breaks and came back around 4PM to the same lengths. The lines to scan tickets, however, were ridiculous! Most of the time seemed to be spent on taking pictures of people using their tickets for the first time.
Much talk has been had about the comparisons between rides on each coast, and (imo, of course) most of the consensus is true - BTMRR, IASW, SM, and Buzz are all better than their WDW counterparts.
Unpopular opinion, I know...but I prefer Pirates in WDW!
Hear me out! While there are a lot of extended scenes in the DL version, I think it flows better at WDW - there's no real "action" happening in any of the additions, just static scenes that don't propel the plot at all. I still loved it, don't hate me! HM, Pooh and PP are all better in WDW as well - PP is really quick! Can't give an opinion on Splash, as it's been closed every time I've been to WDW (I had horrible luck with it until this trip! Finally rode it!)
Did the Blue Bayou Fantasmic dining package, and it was well worth it! The restaurant itself was a lot smaller than I expected, but that gumbo and sorcerer mickey dessert...
For the show, I arrived 30 minutes prior to the 9:00 show and got a dead center view with one couple in front of me against the railing. The section didn't really start to fill up until 15 minutes before, and even then there was still plenty of room to maneuver. I walked by about half an hour before the second show as well, and the dining section (all three were combined) was pretty barren. For those that have asked, they have a cast member assigned to each section to make sure no one jumps into more appealing spots. Someone tried to switch as I was waiting to be walked over, and the cast member quickly escorted them back to their assigned section.
For those thinking about the River Belle Terrace premium package, I don't think the view is as bad as it looks in pictures - I got about as close to it as I could to check for future reference, and I would've been just fine with the view from there if it meant I got a seat and a meal with it (and I'm pretty picky about stuff like that).
Cars Land alone is almost worth a trip in and of itself - RSR is now one of my top 5 favorite rides in any park. Ride it at night, if you can.
Utilize single rider lines as much as possible - the wait for Indy was posted as 60 minutes at one point, and I waited maybe 10 (most of that just the long trek through the queue). With that being said, if there are a lot of APers around, they will vastly inflate the single rider lines and it'll basically be as long as the regular line.
If APs aren't blocked when you're there, try to go right at rope drop and enjoy the morning in the park - everything was pretty manageable until about noon, then all bets were off. I basically switched into WDW-planning mode, and that seemed to work pretty well. But there were still some chunks of time where I had to find random things to do, as the wait times had all skyrocketed.
The biggest tip I can give is GET MAXPASS!!! It was a lifesaver, especially with APs unexpectedly unblocked (thanks for that, Disney...).
